Sixth Form leaders are determined to keep baseball focused on winning

The annual spring break trip to Orlando is a Haverford School baseball tradition. The Fords compete in preseason games and work to increase their team chemistry by eating team dinners and partaking in team activities such as Top Golf from the sunny confines of Florida. 

Although the team had a successful trip on the field this past March, an off-the-field incident resulted in disciplinary measures for multiple Fords. While this incident would presume to be a distraction amongst the team, the Fords’ determined Sixth Form leaders have not let it disturb their season.

“We’ve been able to talk to the coaches, communicate well, and recognize how the other kids on the team have reacted to the incident to find a solution that works for everyone.”

Will Ferris ’22

“As a fourth-year senior manager, I just keep reminding my team to stay focused on our goals. When we got back from Florida, we only had one week until the Inter-Ac season started, which is the most important part of our season,” said Sixth Form manager Kai Jacobs.

“We’ve been able to talk to the coaches, communicate well, and recognize how the other kids on the team have reacted to the incident to find a solution that works for everyone,” Sixth Former Will Ferris said.

Sixth Former Jimmy Davey got right to the point.

“We’re just looking forward,” Davey said. 

The Fords have gotten off to a respectable 7-4 start, highlighted by an impressive 16-4 victory over Strath Haven High School and a 14-4 win against the Westtown School. The Fords attribute their early-season success to hard work and attention to detail at practice.

“We always have good practices and good energy. I try to be at every practice I can to help out with drills and just to be there to support the team,” Jacobs said. “I try to make sure we have good music, good energy, and that we all have a good time. We want to win games, and the best way to do that is to be loose and have fun as opposed to being strict and uptight.”

“We’ve emphasized putting the ball in play and keeping it low to increase the chance for error by the opposing team,” Ferris said. “We just want to be scrappy and get wins.”

“We need to do all the little things right to win games,” Davey said. “We’ve focused on bunt defense, our two-strike approach, and little things like that.”

In addition to off-the-field distractions, the Fords have also faced multiple injuries to Sixth Formers, including Ryan Reed and Aidan Welsh.

“Ryan and Aidan got hurt, and we’ve been missing them on the field, but they’ve been doing a good job commanding the huddle and leading during the game,” Ferris said.

“Obviously, we have a strong senior class. We’re just trying to get everyone involved and be inclusive and just go out there and lead by example,” Davey said.

The Fords have a grueling Inter-Ac schedule, highlighted by a game that was paused due to a weather delay but will be resumed in the coming weeks. 

“We were tied 3-3 in the bottom of the fourth when our game against Penn Charter got postponed, so we’re really looking forward to finishing that game off strong when it resumes,” Davey said.